New Mexico Gov. Bill Richard is highlighting his campaign's success in getting his name on the presidential primary ballots of 17 states.

Still, he hasn't gotten on the ballots of eight states holding their primaries on or before Feb. 5 (a k a Super Duper Tuesday): Michigan, Arizona, California, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota and New Jersey. He's also not on the ballots of these states, which are holding their primaries before March 1: Louisiana, Virginia, Wisconsin, Hawaii and the District.

Sounds daunting, doesn't it? Actually, Mr. Richardson has done very well, considering his sparse financial resources.

The states have varying requirements for getting a candidate's name on a primary ballots. In some states, a candidate need only to appear at an elections office and pay a fee. In others, a candidate must hire dozens of workers to manage hundreds of volunteers who canvass door-to-door, then verify, certify and submit their paperwork to the proper authority.

For example, Virginia requires a candidate to collect petition signatures of 10,000 residents, ensuring that each of its 95 counties is represented and at least 400 signatures are from each of the state's 11 congressional districts.

Compare that with New Hampshire's requirements: 3,000 signatures, with half from each of the state's two congressional districts and a $1,000 filing fee.

— Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times

It almost goes without saying that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee was the sleeping giant in the Republican race for the White House. Just look at his surge to first place in Iowa.

Journalists have been aware of his strength there since he took second in the Republican straw poll in August.

Could Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware be the Democrats' sleeper in 2008 that Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, was in the 2004 race?

Mr. Biden sure thinks so.

He released a video ad today called, "Joe is Right in Iowa," mostly seeking contributions to pay for his television ad campaign:

The ad is just a bunch of Iowans saying Joe is right and why they think so.

More and more in debates, and particularly at the Brown and Black Forum in Iowa last weekend, Mr. Biden has come off as the savvy, experienced politician that Sen. Hillary Clinton has been painting herself to be.

I blogged a while back that I was matched with Mr. Biden in a who's-your-candidate game where I answered a series of questions about my stance on the issues, and I got Joe Biden. A few others took the test, too, and some came up with the same thing.

John Kerry, like Mr. Biden, was at the bottom of preference polls in Iowa before he went on to win the caucus and all but one primary thereafter.

— Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times

The Iowa storm fall just keeps coming for Sen. Hillary Clinton.

The independent group Democratic Courage put up a new ad today in Iowa attacking her. The ad, called "Blowin' in the Wind," attacks Hillary for backing away from her plan to give every American a $5,000 account at birth to start saving for college.

The ad shows Mrs. Clinton talking about her "baby bonds" plan, then shows Rudy Giuliani attacking it as socialist, then shows him saying she backed away from it, before ending with the phrase, "We need a Democrat with courage to stand up to the Republicans."

— Brian DeBose, national reporter, The Washington Times

The Clinton campaign had a rough weekend in New Hampshire, but that was nothing compared to what went on in Iowa.

Sen. Hillary Clinton was supposed to appear at the Heartland Forum and the Brown and Black Presidential Forum in Des Moines, but was unable to make it to the Heartland after a hostage situation in her Rochester, N.H., field office.

Once the campaign discovered that she would not make it in person, something peculiar happened: nothing.

There was not a single "Hillary for President" sign, pamphlet or even Hillary supporters wearing T-shirts easily visible if at all in Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.

Mrs. Clinton participated in the forum by phone, but the satellite connection was so bad that she could barely hear the questions.

Someone asked her to respond to House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel's position that Democratic freshman — mostly from conservative formerly Republican districts — be allowed to vote on an immigration bill that does not include a pathway to citizenship.

"Well, we absolutely have to protect the border," Mrs. Clinton said initially.

She went on to talk about comprehensive immigration reform, but the boos she received drowned out that part.

It was clear that, despite the coordinated political machine her campaign has built nationally, her Iowa office is completely the opposite. It's no wonder her poll numbers in Iowa are sinking fast.

— Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times